Receive the latest national-international updates in your inbox

President Donald Trump says the Senate should "go nuclear" in the fight to get Judge Neil Gorsuch nominated to the Supreme Court. With only 52 GOP Senators and 60 votes needed to nominate Gorsuch, the "nuclear" option would force Gorsuch through by a simple majority vote. (Published Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017)

As Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch enters his first day of questioning in the Senate, whether he's confirmed depends upon the support of several Democratic senators who are embroiled in partisan fighting over the politics of the high court, NBC News reported.

Democrats' concerns and hard feelings after Republicans blocked Barack Obama's nominee to the open seat could lead to an explosive fight on the Senate floor. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., one of Gorsuch's most outspoken critics, has said that the nominee must prove that he would truly act independently from the president.

If Republicans can't get 60 votes to confirm him, they may enact the so-called "nuclear option," a procedural move that would blow up Senate rules to pass President Donald Trump's nominee.

NBC News took a look at the major factors at play.

Gorsuch: Judicial Decisions 'Not About Politics'

Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch eschewed the idea of politics being a major driving force in his former judicial decisions, in a possible attempt to distance himself from the political controversies that surround President Donald Trump and Congress. He said decisions made on the bench are "not about politics."